Displaying items by tag: Plant

Russia: Eurocement Group and China Triumph International Engineering (part of CNBM), have announced a project to build a mechanical engineering plant in the Ulyanovsk region. Total investments are estimated at US$3bn according to regional press. The implementation of this project was decided upon at a meeting of Ulyanovsk Governor Sergey Morozov, Eurocement Group President Mikhail Skorokhodov and representatives of China Triumph International Engineering.

The facility will make equipment for the cement industry as well as equipment for automotive, railway, oil and gas, chemical, defense and nuclear industries.

Skorokhodov said that Eurocement was currently implementing an 'unprecedented' phase of building new dry-process cement plants. It aims to increase its dry cement production ratio to 100% by 2018.

Russia: Krasnoyarsk Cement plans to launch its new dry-process cement line at the Krasnoyarsk Cement plant in 2014. The launch date will depend on market conditions. Construction will cost Euro262m in total, Euro19.5m of which has already been spent. Construction works began in 2009.

Russia: Eurocement Group will invest Euro167 m in the construction of a cement plant in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic in the North Caucasus. The new plant based on dry process technology will produce up to 4Mt/yr of clinker.

Peru: Cementos Yura, a Gloria Group subsidiary, has invested US$50.0m in machinery and equipment for a new cement plant. The company is building capacity to meet the demand of large construction projects in Southern Peru. In the first half of 2014, Yura reported US$39.2m in profit, down from US$39.9m in the same period of 2013. Yura's domestic market share fell from 22% in the first half of 2013 to 21.7% during the same period of 2014.

Pakistan: Cherat Cement Company Limited will invest US$197m to install a new production plant at its existing site in Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The new plant will have a 1.3Mt/yr production capacity and will be commissioned in 30 months, according to Abid A Vazir, executive director of Cherat Cement.

The term-loan for the project has been arranged and Cherat Cement has established a letter of credit for the foreign component of the loan. The plant will be acquired from China's Tianjin Cement Industry Design and Research Institute Company Limited.

Cherat Cement expects domestic cement demand to grow exponentially as the present government has planned spending on major infrastructure projects, with a special focus on constructing highways and hydropower and housing projects. Cherat Cement is also expecting huge spending by the private sector on construction-related activities, fuelled by inflows of remittances from expatriate Pakistanis.

Canada: McInnis Cement has announced that the financial structure of its cement plant under construction in the Gaspé Region of Quebec has been completed. The National Bank of Canada, as the sole book-runner of the bank syndicate, has confirmed the availability of a US$329m loan for the project. This is in addition to the US$458m in equity from private and public investors, including the joint venture formed by Groupe Beaudier and La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, as well as the participation of Investissement Québec (IQ). IQ has also provided a US$229m commercial loan, which brings the loan total to US$1.00bn.

"We are pleased that the project can be realised without any subsidy; we are also very proud to be able to complete, more than 30 years after it was imagined by local entrepreneurs, this visionary, ambitious and modern cement plant at the cutting edge of technology." said Christian Gagnon, CEO of McInnis Cement. "Construction has begun and the project is well under way. Moreover, the ecological footprint of this flagship project for the cement industry in Canada and across the world will be one of the lowest in the industry."

The plant will use up to 40% less fuel per tonne of cement than traditional cement plants due the use of hydroelectric power, reducing emissions of greenhouse gas. It will comply with the US standards set out in the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP 2015), which are more stringent than those presently applied in Quebec. For example, the NESHAP 2015 standard for particulate matter is 15 times lower than the current Quebec limit. The Port-Daniel cement plant will be the only one in Canada to comply with the NESHAP 2015 standards.

The plant will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology for improved environmental performance, including the latest generation of bag filters for improved efficiency. It will also utilise maritime transportation for fuel, further reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Initially, the plant will use petroleum coke as fuel, although this is set to change in due course.

"Over the coming years, we intend to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions by partly replacing the petroleum coke with biomass, which is available in the Gaspé region," said Gagnon. "This partial conversion to biomass is at the very heart of the concept of the cement plant."

Zambia: Lafarge Cement Zambia plans to double its cement production capacity from its two local plants to meet the growing demand, according to CEO Emmanuel Rigaux. In 2013, the domestic market for cement grew by 17%, largely driven by the continued increase in government infrastructure projects, mining expansion activities and to a smaller extent by individual home building projects.

"Lafarge Zambia is planning to double its capacity in Ndola and Chilanga through debottlenecking and construction of a new line," said Rigaux. "This will enable us to remain the market leader and preferred supplier of construction solutions in Zambia." Rigaux said that in 2013 production volumes improved by 105,000t to 1.18Mt from 1.07Mt in 2012, representing 9% growth. Volumes are expected to continue to improve on the back of strong growth in the construction industry in both domestic and export markets. Rigaux said that domestic sales volumes grew by 18% in 2013, while export sales volumes declined by 25% due to increased focus on the domestic market.

"The second half of 2013 saw a sharp improvement in operational and industrial results both at both our Ndola and Chilanga plants," said Rigaux. "Lafarge Zambia also implemented targeted cost reductions and logistical optimisations, which enabled us to improve our operating margins." Rigaux said that Lafarge Cement Zambia's financial position and cash flow remained solid with strong cash position and no external debt.

UK: The construction industry slow-down that started in 2008 led to Hanson Cement, HeidelbergCement's UK subsidiary, laying off 70 employees at its cement plant in Padeswood, Flintshire, Wales. At the time, Hanson considered closing the plant, but instead ran at half capacity in the hope the situation would improve. It has now submitted plans to Flintshire council for a new production line, which the company said would create 35 new jobs, following a building industry upturn.

"It's a good news story considering we've gone through such a depressed period," said Hanson's David Weeks. "We have three plants in the UK; one in Padeswood, one in Lancashire and one in Lincolnshire. We only really needed two and Padeswood would probably have been the one to go. But we decided to hang on in and now we're confident that we'll get Padeswood up to full capacity once again." Hanson Cement said that work will start immediately if it gets the go-ahead.

Read Global Cement's plant visit report from Padewsood, which was published in the June 2014 issue of Global Cement Magazine.

Zimbabwe: PPC Zimbabwe has secured US$18m for the construction of a new cement plant in Harare Province. The company said that construction of the new plant is currently its main priority.

"Preliminary work at the site is underway and fully-fledged construction is scheduled for August 2014," said PPC's managing director, Njombo Lekula. A road access network to the plant has already been completed and a temporary office is already set up at the site. Public hearings for the Environment Impact Assessment have been concluded, providing the green light for the project to commence.

PPC, which has 1.2Mt/yr of cement production capacity, intends to double its capacity by building a clinker plant in Mount Darwin District in Zimbabwe, as well as cement grinding plants in Harare Province, Zimbabwe and Tete Province, Mozambique. Lekula said that PPC is also looking at investing more in new technology to increase production capacity. According to Lekula, a feasibility study for the construction of a clinker plant and a cement grinding plant in Mashonaland Central Province, Zimbabwe is almost complete.

"We are conducting a feasibility study for the clinker plant in Mashonaland Central, but the plant in Harare is our main priority at the moment," said Lekula. He added that the construction of another clinker plant in Mashonaland Central would go in tandem with the limestone geological studies currently being carried out.

PPC, however, is worried by the performance of its export business. "Currently our plants in Zimbabwe are running at about 70% capacity utilisation and for us to get to decent levels of capacity utilisation, we have to find other markets," said Lekula. "We export to Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique and we continuously look for opportunities in the region." PPC's export business contributes about 20% to its total turnover, but the figure fluctuates. "Our export market margins are impacted by logistics. Sometimes the exports are not very stable hence the need to look at both the local and export markets to ensure sustainability," he added.

Myanmar: Thailand's Siam Cement Group (SCG) plans to invest US$400m in the construction of a 1.8Mt/yr capacity cement plant in Myanmar. The plant is expected to be complete in 2016.

"The priority we are focusing is to manufacture cement and later cement related products such as ready-mix concrete and precast concrete blocks," said Kan Trakulhoon, SCG's president and CEO. "Myanmar seems to be developing progressively and infrastructures are needed, so the cement market will be good. The investments made in the industry and housing construction sectors are increasing, especially in major cities like Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw." He added that the cement plant would use waste-derived fuel.